We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ching-Shan Chang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ching-Shan below.
Ching-Shan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Having been composing music and playing the piano since age 7, my classical background and education have created a solid foundation for me to compose for multimedia scores and concert music. Additionally, I have been improvising on the piano in various styles based on a given melody, a painting, or a picture since a young age, and the experience has trained my instincts and ears for providing an appropriate underscore that helps tell a story. However, upon graduating from my master’s degree, I’m still discovering and acquiring new skills outside of the textbook every day by being involved in the industry; they might not be directly related to music but can be advantageous to thrive in this competitive field over the course of time. If I could throw myself into the film industry earlier (such as doing an internship right after college), I would’ve known the gap between classical music and film music being larger than I imagined and started learning the technical side of film scoring through watching videos and reading books before I graduated.
To make a sustainable living in Hollywood as a musician is never easy – on top of being able to write and produce high-quality music, knowing how to build your network is also extremely important. Sometimes when I reach a certain level of self-satisfaction, I have a habit of stagnating and stopping finding ways to better myself. From my experience, I have never felt any moment where obstacles lay in front of me and stop me from learning more, it all depends on one’s mindset, resolution, and self-motivation.
Ching-Shan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a composer for film, animation, games, and other forms of multimedia as well as concert music. I’m also a concert pianist, orchestrator, arranger, and conductor. Although starting with training in classical music, film music has always been a part of my life and I only realized my passion for it when I began collaborating with student filmmakers, animators, and game designers in my junior year in college; additionally, my experience of improvising on the piano has been of good use to elevate storytelling and dramatize the visual through my music. I’m most proud of my fast instinct for finding what style and instrumentation of music works best for the picture; from orchestral, hybrid, sound design driven, and electronic, to jazz, the wide range of my music interest and knowledge provides me the flexibility to adapt to and accommodate any requests from the clients. I aim to go over the conversation of technical aspects of the collaboration first, and when it is taken care of promptly, clients will have more time to focus and brainstorm primarily on “making arts.” In addition to clients/collaborators such as filmmakers, my expertise in intricate and elaborative orchestral writing has also become an important asset when assisting major composers who are not from the classical music background; to help them bring what they have in mind to score and parts on paper for a live orchestra has always been a satisfying process.
When music is not the center of a presentation like in concert music and involves other collaborators who lead the project, learning how to speak their language or observing materials through their angle are some of the most essential skills besides delivering good music. In the sea of overflowing talents here in Los Angeles, I began to have the realization that communication skills, the ability to translate the ability to translate the director’s feedback/requests/notes to a musician’s language, and helping them understand their visions are essential ways to set yourself apart in the industry.
To survive in this industry, we all must wear multiple hats and learn when to throw ourselves outside of our comfort zone occasionally. Although frustration and disappointment might be the first to come in the beginning, it is such an important attitude to keep pushing your boundaries and acquire new skills. “Slowly but steadily” is what I keep reminding myself, and many mentors of mine have taught me that this path is a marathon and patience is a virtue.
In addition to film scores, I am equally passionate about writing concert music for its purity and sole purpose of communicating with the audience through the notes you put on the sheet music. Unlike in film when composers have to split their attention between picture and music, concert music allows me to fully concentrate on perfecting the orchestration, voice leading, and the counterpoint. Concert music or film scores, the one shared aspect about the two that I love is the opportunity to work with other talents including people of our own profession.
However, what I find the most challenging is to have a unique voice in both industries. Interestingly, the two sides of me have been gradually merging into one voice, with my concert music starting to tell stories as if the audience could “hear” the picture, and my film scores beginning to have more depth and meticulousness. As a result, listeners start to recognize my signature phrase structures, direction of a melody, voice leading, harmonic progressions, and more details of similarities in both my film scores and concert music works. It eventually led to the discovery of the principle of any genre of music that I write – “Music must tell stories.”
In conclusion, thanks to directors and film composers who have faith in me and let me be a part of their projects, I’ve been able to expressively create art by exploring unconventional ideas and bringing my multicultural background to the sound palette. And thanks to musicians and performers who embrace my unique sound, approach, and influence of film music in my concert music, I hope my music would create a vivid mental picture for the audience in a concert hall.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being an artist is never an easy task, and the financial instability, social obstacles, marketing, and others that involve external and uncontrollable factors are possibly what most people are daunted by. However, nothing is more satisfying than finding a way to make a sustainable living as an artist for its liberating and inspiring nature. The most rewarding aspect comes in three different levels: to start with the personal level, through music as a universal language that overcomes any language barrier, I have been able to connect with people and touch people’s hearts and minds even without much verbal exchange. Secondly, on the professional level, having the privilege to be in an exhilarating industry where we collaborate and draw on collective wisdom with other talents, jam and improvise in a room full of inspiration and learn from the masterminds of each individual gives me a sense of belonging. My musician friends are not just my collaborators, they are also my family and comrades in arms as we continuously push the boundaries of art and fight for authenticity. Lastly, the result — Seeing your music played on the big screen and sharing the emotions, laughter, tears, and screams with the audience at the moment certainly makes the sweat, hustle, and struggle to create the best music seem insignificant. With all the beautiful things that come in the way, it often makes me look past the sacrifice we as artists have to make and fall in love with music even more each time.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The fact that the project comes with low or even no compensation doesn’t always necessarily mean it will be a waste of time or is an unfair deal. There have been numerous examples where opportunities present themselves with no obvious material or intangible benefit, but either offer a tremendous potential or open a door somehow in the far future. Patience is a virtue in this industry as not everything is designated or guaranteed to happen through hard work. With the nature of uncertainty in the industry, there have been times when I need to look beyond the obvious and see how my career might advance if I decide to make some or any compromise. Secondly, there is another underrated soft skill to have- simply being a nice and grateful person; I cannot strengthen enough how sometimes friends can get you further than what a degree can get you. Through meeting the right person, forming trust and a healthy working relationship, it is possible that a friend would phone you out of nowhere, under the most unexpected circumstances and time. It might take extra time and energy outside of work, but the more people you meet and the more connections you build, the more likely that it will snowball into something major consequently.
On the journey as an artist, there will be countless factors that are out of our control, and we would sometimes find ourselves in possibly the most undesirable situation, yet it is also an adventure full of surprises which makes this job so unique compared with the others. Sacrifices sometimes have to be made, but one step at a time, and learning how to appreciate the joy that music brings to you and your heart in return, being an artist can be one of the most gratifying ways of life!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chingshanchang.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cschang_music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cschangcomposer
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ching-shan-chang/
- Other: https://soundcloud.com/chingshanchang https://vimeo.com/chingshanchang https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8501981/
Image Credits
Teal Moss Zurich Film Festival Brigid Schlunegger